Fox: Beginnings
by Loki Silvertongue
Summary: So you've read Fox! Well done! Now, don't you wonder how it all begun?  Second up is Youko/Midori. Warning this one is dark and slightly disturbing... okay it's a lot disturbing. Still, you are warned.
1. Shizuru meets Natsuki

Okay, let's give it a try. First up is Shizuru and Natsuki.

Begin!

I declare this chapter to be dedicated to E.M PRAETORIAN, for her epicness!

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The wind howled the trees, flakes of snow whipped past Natsuki's face. Her face, which had been numb with cold, now stung at the impact. Her eyes watered. She shivered, despite the many layers she wore the cold was beginning to get to her. She sighed and looked around the clearing and then up to sky. Twilight was fast approaching.

Natsuki gasped a little. She'd been out so long. Her mother should have called her in by now. Green eyes picked out the path home and she trudged down it, noting with irritation her nose was running. She pulled her arms around her and walked on through the forest. Her home was just over the hill. She'd probably be scolded by her mother but she didn't care. She'd not done anything she wasn't supposed too.

It was then that her world changed for ever.

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Her house was a blaze. Terror welled up inside off her and she remained frozen in disbelief. How could this be? Their house was one of the most well protected houses in the mage world. The blaze began to consume the house and tears welled up in her eyes.

Suddenly part of the house fell in and a figure emerged, untouched by the flames. A beautiful yet terrifying woman. She stopped and sniffed the air. Then she looked directly at Natsuki. Even from the distance, Natsuki saw the smirk. That was all she saw. She turned on her heel and ran for her life. She couldn't think logically all she could do was run. Yet she was just a child, barely thirteen, she had no hope of outrunning a creature that could kill her parents, the greatest hunters of this centaury, true masters.

The creature was waiting for her in the next clearing. Natsuki crashed to a halt and stared at it, her mind refusing to work. The creature advanced. A slow, playful walk. Natsuki knew she could not escape. An eerie calm settled over her. She summoned the magic her parents had taught her a flung it out. The snow became ice and the creature halted it's advance.

"Oh, you wish to play?" it asked, tilting it's head. Natsuki flung out her magic once more and spears of ice leapt from the ground, aiming for the creature body.

The creature just smiled. Suddenly, intense heat radiated from her body, melting the spears and ice. Natsuki took a step back. This was bad. Without snow, she could not do magic. An Ice mage more experienced than her could pull it from the moisture in the air. She could not. Her eyes widened and she reached for the magic that had only just been taught her, as heir to the Kruger house.

"Duran!" she bellowed. Wind howled across the clearing and spikes of ice twisted from the ground. It cut towards the creature. Whose face registered shock just before they hit.

The creature was thrown across the clearing and collided with a tree. The force had been strong enough to make her bleed but not enough to injure her seriously.

Meanwhile the mist created by the spikes cleared revealing a metal wolf with guns on it's back. It only reached waist hieght but it exuded threat.

"D.. Duran, load silver cartridge!" Natsuki stammered, staggering back. It did so, metal face relecting what was left of the dying light.

"FIRE!" The shot tore towards the creature. It looked surprised for a moment then it leapt forwards, a deadly looking halberd appearing in it's hands. It knocked away the shot with ease and carried on forwards. Natsuki staggered back and Duran leapt to save it's master. The halberd sliced it to pieces within seconds.

"Nice bit of magic kid, too bad it's not strong enough. Given a few years you could be one of the best" she chuckled. Then she began a terrifying advance towards Natsuki. The girl scrambled back, her back colliding with a tree. Fear struck eyes looked up as the woman raised her halberd for the final strike.

_Please, anyone… save me…_

Then the world exploded.

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Howling winds blew the leaves and twigs in a terrifying cyclone. Natsuki covered her head desperately and the creature backed up swiftly. Her eyes narrowed, her body ready for combat. Her opponent came in the form of a tawny haired woman. She wielded a Naginata and from her stance she knew how to use it. She immediately moved between Natsuki and the creature. Natsuki, however, didn't notice. She was slumped at the foot of the tree unconscious.

The creature hissed.

"A summoner, it was to be expected I suppose. Well then demon, bring it on!"

The newcomer merely smiled in a disconcerting fashion.

"I've come to kill you, do I not deserve your name?" she chuckled. Her red eyes unnaturally focused on the her target. Her target moved into a new stance.

"Like hell you do, what name am I putting on your gravestone?" shouted the creature. The newcomer smiled eerily again.

"Viola,"

Then she moved her Naginata slicing through the air towards the creature, who barely managed to dodge. The creature flew high, her first mistake. Viola's weapon extended to an impossible length, catching the monster in the side. The creature fell and Viola leapt, an impossible leap. Her Naginata striking a killing blow.

The creature plummeted, her body striking the floor with a sickening crack. Viola landed gracefully. She turned too look at the body over her shoulder.

"Humph, I detest inelegant people like you," she muttered.

Then she turned and strode towards the unconscious body. She knelt down before it and gently took Natsuki's sleeping face.

"Natsuki, hmmm. It would appear that we are destined to be…,"

She picked the figure up and began a long trek through the snow.

Fin.

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Hope you enjoy it!

- Loki


	2. Midori meets Youko

Beta'd by and dedicated to E M PRAETORIAN. : )

Read and enjoy.

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"YOUKO!" The young woman turned to the person who had shouted her name.

"Gal, what did you do now?" she asked, her voice slipping into a mother's coo. The young girl sniffled and pointed to her leg. It bore a bloody graze. Youko sighed and began to pull out her supplies. Gently, she cleaned the wound, ignoring the girl's whimpers as it stung.

Then she pulled out a plaster and stuck it on, as an afterthought she quickly cast a small spell to relieve her pain. Gal sniffed again and smiled.

"Thank you, Youko," she muttered. Youko smiled and handed her a tissue. She accepted it with a grin and wiped her face before dropping the tissue in the bin besides Youko's desk. Youko glanced outside; the sun was well on its way to setting.

"Gal, where are your parents?" she asked. The girl looked away suddenly and said nothing. Youko sighed.

"Do you want me to take you back to your house?" she asked. The girl's face lit up.

"Yes please Youko!" she almost yelled. Youko chuckled and looked at her. It was obvious she did not come from a good home, her clothes were old and she had the look of someone grossly underfed. Yet her reports on her condition seemed to go unnoticed.

She got up and dumped the remaining papers into her briefcase. Then she took the girl's hand and led her down to her car.

"Hey Gal, would you like to get something to eat on the way back?" she asked. Her heart was torn at how excited she looked at this prospect.

"REALLY…! YOU MEAN IT?" she bellowed. Youko winced at her volume but nodded.

"Of course," she replied. The girl's eyes shone in gratitude. They reached Youko's car and she clambered in. Youko felt a small fission of fear, it was not school policy to take pupils home without previous permission and she could get fired, yet she also felt it shouldn't be school policy to ignore a child's suffering.

It took them a mere five minutes to reach the tacky fast food restaurant. The place was almost empty so they were served relatively quickly. The food was cheap and didn't taste all that good, but Gal ate like she hadn't eaten in a week, and wouldn't eat again for another.

Youko indulged her until she was full, buying her two of the generic kiddie meals, half her burger, all of her fries, two tasteless apple pies and an ice cream. All Youko could do was stare as she put away so much food.

Once she was full they left for her house. It was in the bad part of town and Youko felt slightly self-conscious as her middle-class car drove down the street, past the boarded up houses and shady alleyways. She pulled up near the house and stared.

The front door was hanging off its hinges. Youko glanced at Gal.

"Is it normally like that?" she asked. Gal shook her head. Her small face looked scared. Youko closed her eyes and steeled herself.

"Go get help Gal, I'll see what's going on," she gave her a small smile. She undid her seatbelt and leapt out, her little legs carrying her away. Youko then got out of the car herself, painfully aware of the shadows that seemed to gape from the doorway. She gulped and stepped in.

It hit her like a hammer, the smell of blood and lots of it. She gulped again and stepped over a pile of rubbish into the living room and almost screamed, stopping herself at the last moment.

Two of what had been human corpses were sat on the run down sofa. Their bodies had been half consumed by something with large teeth. She swallowed back the bile in her throat and listened.

She could hear a shuffling upstairs. She turned and walked to the bottom of the stairs. Against the wall, shown by the moonlight was a shadow. She climbed the stairs quietly and was half-way up when she heard the sobs. They were strangely distorted and Youko knew immediately that what had caused the mess downstairs was the same thing making them. A demon, yet it was sobbing, that wasn't right. A slave would have no mind; it would feed and move on. A higher level would kill consume and maybe stick around to see if anything more would come to it. Youko readied a spell and climbed the rest of the stairs and then she hesitantly stepped into the room.

The demon was grey, it had long sharp claws and it had an action man toy in its hand. It looked up and spotted Youko. It tilted its head at her and Youko saw what it was.

"I know you," she said quietly and then fell back into a faint, for that demon was Gal's older sister. The demon stood up and stared at the body. It growled, then began to slowly creep forward its sharp claws (that seemed to be its fingers) reaching for Youko's prone body.

There was a flash of metal and it lost an arm. Another flash of metal and it's other was gone. From the darkness a red headed figure stepped forward.

"Get away from her," she hissed with deadly intent. The demon roared at her and leapt, Midori took its head off and it collapsed into green sparkles. Midori stared at the house.

"Wow, this better not be your house missy," she muttered. There was the sound of voices downstairs suddenly, footsteps on the stairs. Midori didn't hesitate; she grabbed Youko, and stepped into the void.

_So, here we go. World get ready, Midori has come to give out justice to all wrongdoers…

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There we have it Midori's entrance onto the scene... and yes Youko deliberately got her powers late for two reasons. A) She'd never been in a life or death situation and B) Midori had only just decided to head for Earth.

Another thing is that Midori doesn't make a flashy entrance. This is because she doesn't want to alert the demon and so she has the leisure of lopping of it's limbs rather than attacking it head on and putting Youko in danger.

Read and Review ^^

Loki_  
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